The Jogging Jeweler #40

| Irvington's Old Croton Aqueduct Entrance Upgrade |

Earlier this summer Irvington began work on Main Street through an upgrade of the the Old Croton Aqueduct as it passes through town and past a monument located in front of Main Street School. The OCA once ended at the end of the school's tree-lined parking lot forcing pedestrians and cyclists the pass through the parking lot crossing Main St to continue on their OCA journey. 

It looks nice...

• Parking lot is more orderly and bright.
• The sidewalk is nicely paved with bricks.
• Two crosswalks crossing the school's entrance and exit driveways have been repaved with a faux brick patterned as well as repainted.
• A crosswalk from a newly planted grassy path, that one assumes is the new entrance to the OCA was also added.

So what?

•  Paint - The crosswalk crossing Main Street that pedestrians, school children, and cyclist should be using has yet to receive the same beautification. 
• Signage - The OCA does not yet have signs or posts, like those found on Mercy's campus, directing users the appropriate direction. It also seems they have yet to install the yellow diamonds alerting drivers along Main Street of frequent use of the crosswalk in front of this newly re-furbished area. 
• Blind spot - The Main St crosswalk, when used from the retail side of the street, has a massive blind spot caused by parking at the crosswalk's edge. Had a vehicle been parked in the handicap spot, marked by the blue lines on the road, a pedestrian is forced to step off the curb and into oncoming traffic to see. That first parking spot needs to back up and let the crosswalk and its pedestrians breath and be seen. 

The Jogging Jeweler certainly hopes the work for this area is not yet complete and they are awaiting the arrival of paint and signs for pedestrians and the OCA. 

UPDATED - 9/25/17

Did some research. According to the Main Street Streetscape plan (found here - see page 47 specifically) which is dated 9/12/2014 it does appear:

1. a second Main Street crosswalk was (is?) planned on.
2. The existing Main Street crosswalk, as well as this 2nd crosswalk are to match the brick patterned ones in the school's parking lot. 
3. A painted pathway through the South parking lot to mark the OCA's continued path.
4. In the text on page 47 it is recommeneded that signage pointing out pedestrian and cyclist usage as well as linkage to other villages via the OCA would better serve this community gathering space.

The search for a more recent plans as well as contacting local officials are my next steps. 

What can you do?

Do you live in Irvington? Want to help?

• Write an email to the BOT. 
• Talk to your Village Admin. 
• Reach out to the committee in charge of this project. 
• Reach out to your local Safe Routes program leaders. 

Remember when using a crosswalk as a pedestrian or driver - #STOPLOOKWAVE